What are you NOT reading to your kids?

Children’s stories stick with us through life and help us make sense of the world. So, who do you talk about at bedtime?

Awhile back a friend introduced a question for us to consider as parents: Did we read our child any books about people of color? We had books about trains and ducks and mice. Unicorns, dragons, trucks and kings. And… a whole lot of white people. Irk.

My friend’s question wasn’t even specifically about events or racial histories. Just — did we have books about people of color?

Huh. Our son was two years old at the time.

Really, we just hadn’t thought about it, and by default we had sought out books with characters that look like our own kid and the kind of person he might grow into, gender and all. Not to mention, there’s a distinct shortage in the marketplace. (More about that disparity in this article: The Apartheid of Children’s Literature)

Today, on MLK Day, I’d like to issue a challenge. Not because I have this stuff figured out. I certainly do not. I am white. Most of my friends are white. Will reading a couple books solve the world’s problems?

Nope.

But it’s one very doable, very small step that can send the message that people who look different are worth talking to and about. Their stories are worth telling. Their stories are worth hearing.

Maybe your child will have questions and create an opportunity window to impart how your family’s values relate to the realities of the world we actually live in. Our kids are little sponges and soak up so many things from us. They are constantly observing what we do and say, and what we often forget is that they are also observing what we don’t do, what we don’t say. Even if that omission is unintentional.

Even if that omission is as subtle as the books on our shelf.

I was glad that someone pointed out this small thing as I strive to prepare my child to navigate our world: to befriend and interact with people in our community.

So, take a moment and be intentional. If you haven’t already, next time you’re at the library, pick up a book featuring a child who looks different than yours.

We now have several books that are part of our son’s go-to bedtime reads that have also become some of his all-time favorite books. He asks for them again and again. Here are two of those:

Love this & will share!! ‘Snowy Day’ was a favorite from my own childhood, which I fondly also shared with Reily as a child. Others that come to mind as some of our favorites include ‘Courduroy’, ‘Come On, Rain!’, and ‘Lon Po Po’.

It is a common challenge but also one that takes folks by surprise. Like the Oscars thing this past week. I feel kinda dumb to have to be told that the Oscars is almost completely white, like that is something that I should have known. But such is the burden/privilege of being white in this country. We never have to think if we (as white people) will be able to see ourselves in our leaders, media, or literature. It is a good idea to introduce this early on. Cause that is how you establish the “normal” for the child. Below is another book that I love (mostly because it includes Lucy Parsons, who is a bonafide badass), but it also is another way to introduce/challenge young children on their constantly changing worldview.